A programme designed to encourage more people in Plymouth to start their own business has secured more than £1.5million in funding.
It means the free Urban Enterprise programme can now run for another two years, giving people practical advice on how to write business plans and pitch ideas and use marketing successfully.
The project has helped 158 new businesses get off the ground in the past three years.
Cllr Tudor Evans is Leader of Plymouth City Council:
How many of us would like to tell the council what we _really _think about how they're running our towns and cities? Well people in Plymouth are being given the chance to do exactly that.
The City Council admits it may, at times, make for uncomfortable listening but it says it wants to hear the true thoughts of the people of Plymouth.
Plymouth City Council made the announcement about potholes repair work at its budget meeting on Monday (25 February) night. The money will be spent over the next decade. It also announced total budget cuts for the year of £18 million. Council tax will rise by 2%.
Council staff in Plymouth took almost twice as much time off sick in 2010 as workers in the rest of the country.
According to new figures, workers called in sick an average of just over 12 days in the 12 months to October 2010. And although the absence record has improved dramatically over the past year, it is still far worse than comparable national figures.
The latest survey by the Confederation of British Industry, for 2010, showed that private sector workers each took just over 5 days off sick during the same period.
